First-Rate Law Teacher Jobs in 2021
Always wanted to share your knowledge and teach new generations how to be the best lawyers? Take a look at open law teacher positions!
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2021-03-302 weeks ago
There’s more than meets the eye regarding law teaching. For legal professionals, law teacher jobs are fantastic. Law lecturers come up with intriguing ideas and work in inspiring and harmonious environments. They have considerable independence and flexibility. On top of that, they have an excellent salary — a median of $66.91 per hour. Yearly, that amount exceeds $130,000.
About Law Professor Jobs
Legal professionals pursuing an academic career will undoubtedly have better job security with minimal fluctuations. Law lecturing includes two fundamental segments: teaching and conducting research. All law teachers have one primary goal — to enhance critical and analytical thinking capacities in their students.
In essence, law school professor jobs can be split into several major positions: tenure track, legal research and writing, clinical faculty, VAP, and adjunct professor. The tenure track refers to professionals hired by universities and law schools. On the other hand, clinical practice implies that legal professionals are employed to give lectures in actual client clinics and centers.
Legal research and writing implies that law professors are employed to give lectures on conducting research and writing about legal areas. VAP is the mandatory position on one’s path to an academic career, whereas an adjunct professor works both as a lecturer and an attorney at a law firm.
The only drawback of law school teaching jobs is that there aren’t many different positions. Notwithstanding the school and experience, the duties and responsibilities are pretty much the same, which is not the case with private legal practice. Nevertheless, such jobs promise a remarkable and lucrative career.
What Do Law Teachers Do?
A full-time law teacher at a university or college is in charge of teaching and advising law students. Apart from drawing up and giving lectures, they grade students’ papers and exams.
As they discuss a range of different matters with their students, law teachers need to be well-informed on recent progress and advancements in legal areas. To get updated on the most current law trends, they have to read a lot. Plus, they must communicate with their colleagues and peers, as law teacher jobs involve carrying out extensive legal research and writing papers that will be published in academic magazines and books. Sometimes, they may be asked to go to various conferences as well.
Law teachers are also required to keep office hours during which they will meet with their students. They might be required to review and select the textbooks that will be used at law school courses. Regarding research, law professors are expected to write grant proposals to obtain the study funding.
Teaching and office hours are more or less fixed. However, lecturers are supposed to spend some extra time preparing lectures, doing research, and reading. Thus, overall working hours might vary based on the type or amount of research they participate in.
Duties and Responsibilities for Law Faculty Jobs
- Delivering lectures on topics from legal areas.
- Creating and developing curriculum to advance students’ learning.
- Initiating class discussions and debates and ensuring students’ participation.
- Keeping class records and assessing students’ coursework and progress.
- Supporting colleagues and cooperating with them regarding research and co-curricular activities.
- Conducting research and publishing papers and findings in academic magazines and books.
- Reporting to the head of the department.
Types of Law Teaching Jobs
Law teaching can be classified into three main categories: tenure track, clinical, and legal research and writing teachers. However, this is not a strict classification as those categories tend to be interchangeable and interlinked. Besides those three, one can differentiate between a VAP (visiting assistant professor) and an adjunct professor.
Tenure-Track Professors
This group involves tenured and tenure-track teachers who teach courses closely related to legal subjects such as Constitutional and Criminal Law, Civic Procedure, Property Law, and similar. They also deal with ethical, social, theoretical, and historical matters and presumptions that have formed their major. Plenty of law schools’ courses are traditionally delivered by tenured or tenure-track professors of law.
Clinical Professors
This category of teachers requires clinical and professional skills and involves externships and academic support. Clinical professors instruct, monitor, and evaluate law students’ work and progress on simulated or genuine cases. The typical student-teacher quota in clinical courses amounts to 8:1, but some could be bigger, and others could be smaller.
Legal Research and Writing (LRW) Professors
LRW professors give lectures on conducting legal research and writing. Writing tasks and exercises might involve creating client letters and office memorandum, and pre-trial and appellate briefs. Exercises like a simulated interview with a client or verbal argument help develop advocacy skills.
Adjunct Law Professor Jobs
This position is typically occupied by professionals who primarily work in higher educational institutions and act as consultants of law firms. This occupation isn’t as extravagant as a full-time law professor’s but allows better revenue opportunities. Plus, it’s an excellent way to gain a reputation and expertise for a forthcoming full-time position.
Visiting Assistant Professor
The VAP (Visiting Assistant Professor) is the starting position in your pursuit of a law school professor job. No legal academia would allow you to become a professor of law without being a VAP first. This is a new standard that all higher educational institutions follow.
This occupation allows you to gain some experience by teaching, researching, and writing while striving to the top position.
Work Environment
A typical day at work of a law professor involves dealing with students’ attendance records, marks, and other related reports. During a lecture, teachers are expected to start and facilitate classroom discussions. Also, they have fixed office hours during which they advise and help students with their assignments.
Outside the fixed timetable and office hours, law teacher jobs require researching specific areas and publishing results in academic journals or magazines. Besides, many professors take part in campus or community events, conferences, and seminars.
Many professors work in an office-like work environment once a week or every day. They hardly ever work outdoors. In fact, the coronavirus outbreak has led to the emergence of remote law professor jobs.
Regarding working hours, law teachers typically work 40 hours a week, mostly from 9 to 5.
Injuries and Illnesses
Law teachers might not be directly exposed to physical injuries like blue-collar or construction workers. However, they may be prone to pressure and stress or, in the worst-case scenario, burnout.
The reasons for stress are multiple, ranging from dissatisfaction, hostile work environment, not enough teaching material, absence of administrative support, and even workplace discrimination. It’s essential to manage it in a timely manner before it leads to more severe health issues.
How to Become a Law Teacher
Becoming a professor is quite hard, as you need to complete higher education and obtain the necessary degree. Besides, this position may require additional on-the-job training and specific skills and knowledge.
Important Qualities
All law school faculty positions require a Ph.D. or related terminal degree and knowledge of the law and government issues and policies. As they will be working with students, they must have some teaching experience. In other words, they must be qualified to give lectures to undergraduate and graduate students.
Other necessary skills include:
- Excellent analytical and research skills.
- Research and case studies initiatives.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
- Exquisite interpersonal skills.
Education
Any law professor job opening requires a bachelor’s, master’s, Ph.D., or any other terminal degree in the related field, depending on the position. Therefore, you must first obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree and then complete four-year studies at a law school. Law professors at university must have a Ph.D., together with years of experience as an attorney. This implies that passing Bar Exams is mandatory.
The next step is selecting your major. The most frequent ones include degrees in Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies, Business, or Political Science. Each of these gives you different job opportunities. A Business degree, for instance, makes you eligible for business law professor jobs.
Licenses, Certifications, and Registrations
To apply for the law teacher position, you must have experience in legal practice. No matter if they work for a law firm or have a private practice, all attorneys must be licensed by the American Bar Association. To get a license, prospective attorneys have to pass Bar Exams.
Salary
It can’t be denied that law faculty jobs are immensely rewarding. Apart from a colossal pay, working with students and conducting research on a range of current issues are gratifying for a professional who enjoys their job and excels in it.
On average, a law professor salary amounts to $132,420 a year for experts working at colleges, universities, and professional schools. According to the BLS, those who work for junior colleges have somewhat less income — $93,190. In addition to this base amount, law professors have extra benefits, compensation, and bonuses.
However, the salary may vary. Low-end professors make as little as $75,000. On the other hand, top-earning professors earn $258,000 annually, which is $183,000 more than what their low-end peers make.
Job Outlook
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, legal studies professor jobs have an increased rate of 11% in the 2018–2028 period. This growth rate is much faster than the average rate of other jobs. The number of regular and online law professor jobs expected to open by 2028 amounts to 155,000 across the US.
Moreover, if you want to work abroad and pursue an international career, you should know that there are plenty of law professor jobs overseas. International universities from Canada, France, Germany, Finland, or Netherlands welcome law professors with open arms.
The Bottom Line: Why to Teach
Being a corporate attorney in a prominent law firm indeed has its advantages. You make massive yearly sums, acquire an excellent reputation, and get the opportunity to change something in your local community.
Law professor jobs might not involve the same degree of excitement as a private legal practice but are definitely as significant. Law teaching vocation is ideal for individuals who enjoy delivering lectures, conducting research, and writing for academic journals. Although smaller than that of a corporate attorney, a law school professor’s salary is quite attractive.
Whatever your reasons for pursuing this academic vocation are, it’s undoubtedly a giant step in your career.
Good luck!
F.A.Q.
Q:
How to become a law professor?
A:
Becoming a law teacher is quite challenging, as it requires completing higher education and obtaining a necessary degree. First, you must obtain a four-year bachelor’s degree. Afterward, you have to finish four-year studies at a law school. However, that’s not all. Law professors must have a Ph.D., together with years of expertise as an attorney. Law practice requires mandatory certifications. To obtain them, you have to pass Bar Exams.
Q:
How much do law professors make?
A:
On average, law professors who work at tertiary education institutions such as colleges, universities, and professional schools make $132,420 a year. According to the BLS, those employed at institutions such as junior colleges earn somewhat less — $93,190. Also, apart from the base salary, law professors have extra benefits, compensation, and bonuses.
However, law teaching roles’ salaries may vary. Low-end professors earn as little as $75,000. On the other hand, top-earning professors may make $258,000 per year, which is $183,000 more than what their low-end peers make.
Q:
How many law professors are there in the United States?
A:
In the beginning, not many professionals were interested in teaching law. Back in 1947, only 991 full-time law teachers were working at law schools and similar institutions. Six decades later, in 2007–2008, that figure rose considerably to 8,142 full-time professors seeking academic careers in law. Ten years later, in the fall of 2017, the US law schools offered 10,232 full-time and 17,021 part-time law teacher positions to legal experts. In the years to come, the number of law teacher jobs is going to increase.